Kotri barrage gets flooded as 60 villages inundated

A medium level flood has been declared at the barrage as floods inundate Sehwan, Jamshoro villages.

HYDERABAD: At least 60 villages located on the Indus riverbed in the Matiari and Jamshoro districts went underwater as the Kotri barrage - the last gated structure on the river - received an increased discharge from the river.

A medium level flood has been declared at the barrage where 222,000 cusecs of water were measured in the upstream, while 188,441 cusecs were released in the downstream.

In the Tali town of Sehwan, Jamshoro, at least 30 villages had been submerged by Wednesday morning.

A school and a police station in Nai Wahan village were also inundated, while the district administration arranged for shelter, food, water and health facilities for the displaced people.

The actual number of the displaced people, however, was not available.

According to to Matiari additional deputy commissioner Salik Mirza, dozens of Katcha villages have been flooded. He said that the inhabitants of the riverbed villages have been asked to evacuate but most of them have not complied so far.

A fresh spell of monsoon rains wreaked havoc across the country this week, as areas in northwest and central Pakistan are still recovering from floods earlier this month, amidst high-flood warnings and evacuation notices issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).